Hutong residents want brake on parking plan

People living in historic hutong areas are furious about a plan to ban parking in their neighborhoods.

The residents want to continue to park outside their courtyard homes, instead of parking vehicles - as the plan demands - in parking lots outside the hutong areas.

The district authority in Dongcheng recently shared its draft plan, which calls for parking lots to be built for the 60,000 vehicles currently being parked in 500 hutongs each night. The local government says the large number of vehicles in the narrow streets causes congestion in the 17 historic areas in Dongcheng district.